Star Trek: Swiftfire 06: Pressure Points
by The Sisko
Summary: Command sends the Klingon Ninth Battle group, the most successful battle group in the entire Klingon fleet to join the Fifth Fleet. The Klingon commander proposes a dangerous plan to strike at the Fifth's old home, Sector 432.
1. Prologue

**STAR TREK: SWIFTFIRE**

**_Pressure Points  
_**

(Season 1: Episode 6)

* * *

For three months a savage war engulfed the Alpha Quadrant. The forces of the Federation Starfleet and the Imperial Klingon Defence Forces fought the Cardassians and their Gamma Quadrant allies, the Dominion, who wished to conquer the entire Quadrant. So far the Federation and Klingons were losing the war and in the words of several officers it had been months of "bloody slaughter" for the Alpha Quadrant's defenders. While they did have some success it was few and far between and was mostly in small skirmishes. In large battles the Dominion and Cardassians were forcing the Federation and Klingons into retreat after retreat.

In an effort to stop the Dominion advance the Starfleet and IKDF leadership decided to hold a two pronged attack, led by two of the most successful fleets in their navies, the Starfleet 7th fleet and the Klingon 9th Battlegroup. The 7th fleet would move to the Tyra system and stop the Dominion's advance, while the 9th Battlegroup would move to take out a forward Dominion facility. It was hoped that these two attacks would halt or at least slow down the Dominion's advance.

In his office on Starbase 391 Admiral Harvey pressed the button on the console to allow for two way communications. A middle aged Klingon appeared on the screen.

"_Admiral Harvey, I am General Gar of the Klingon 9__th__ Battlegroup. I have some information for you."_

Admiral Harvey tried not to look too surprised by this situation.

"What information?"

"_I will be coming into your area soon and I have the authority to take command of your fleet. Here are all the documents to show this."_

Admiral Harvey loaded the files the Klingon sent him. He was indeed telling the truth as far as he could see but the Admiral would still check with Starfleet Command.

"I appreciate you telling me a head of time of this change in command, General."

"_I thought you would. I also think that you will be pleased with the mission I have planned for our fleets."_

"Mission?" asked Admiral Harvey.

"_We are going to attack a Dominion and hand them their greatest defeat of this war. We are going to drive them out of Sector 432."_

In the early hours of the morning, Earth time, most ships operate with a reduced number of personnel. The ships of the Fifth Fleet were no different and these crews were going to be treated to a magnificent sight. Forty-eight Klingon ships dropped out of warp at the Starbase's outer marker. As they approached the Starbase more ships appeared as they decloaked. The ships were decloaking in a pattern that moved forward and to a central point. When the ships reached its stop point the show came to its climax. At the forward edge of the fleet decloaked a _Negh'Var_ class battlecruiser. The _Negh'Var_ was much larger then the other Klingon ships and was a sight to behold. It had the classic Klingon forward weapons array, wings that connected the ships, short and fat Warp nacelles to the main body of the ship and the _Negh'Var's_ trademark, two large disruptors slung under the hull. The _Negh'Var_ was the ultimate symbol of the Klingon fleet and the Klingon Empire.

Once the vessel decloaked a short subspace transmission was beamed to every ship of the Fifth fleet.

"_I am General Gar, commander of the 9__th__ Klingon Battlegroup. We are here to avenge our fallen warriors. In the coming days we will show the Dominion and their Cardassian lap dogs the meaning of, bortaS blr jablu'DI'reH QaQqu' nay'!"_


	2. Chapter 1

"Good morning, Karak."

Lieutenant Karak didn't need to look up to see who it was but he did anyway. Humans thought it was rude not to look someone in the eyes when they greeted you.

"Good morning, Ensign."

Ensign Cole sat down with the dark skinned Vulcan. Every morning at exactly this time the Ensign would join him for breakfast.

"So what are we doing today?" asked Frank as he cut his toast up.

"We are scheduled to patrol the perimeter of this area."

"Is that all?"

"If there was more, I would inform you, Ensign," Karak said in his monotone voice. Not displaying any emotion at all.

"Right. Sorry. I was just hoping for something more exciting."

Karak nodded, understanding what Frank was going on about.

During the attack on the secret Cardassian convoy about a month ago Frank had managed to take the ship out of trouble and turn the tables on the Cardassian vessel that was attacking them. This had earned him high praise from the command crew and this had in turn helped boost the Ensign's confidence extremely. Since then the Ensign had been "itching", to use a human term, to get back into action. This was a good thing, since confidence was very important to emotional beings like humans.

"Do not worry, Ensign. There will be many more battle before this war is resolved."

"That's true," agreed Frank. "But it also means more death."

"You cannot have one without the other, Ensign."

"I can't argue with that, Karak," said Frank as he took a bite of his toast. "I guess it's our mission to make this thing finish as soon as possible."

* * *

"…Revenge is a dish best served cold," translated Captain Jonathan Masters.

The Captain and Commander Susan Core were sitting in the Captain's ready room listening to the Klingon's transmission.

Susan looked up surprised at Jonathan.

"I didn't know you could speak Klingon!"

"I can't really. I just know a few words and phases."

"That is still fairly impressive," said Susan. "So since the 9th is here, I guess we won't be doing business with the 3rd Battlegroup anymore."

"That's right. The Third left for Klingon space to get repairs and to be rebuilt a few hours after the 9th arrived."

"It sounds like the General has a plan to strike back at the Dominion. I wonder what it is."

"Hopefully it will go better then when the 3rd went out for the first time. I don't want to go rescuing another Klingon fleet," commented Jonathan. "Or better then all other large scale operations that have happened so far in this war."

"They couldn't go much worse."

Jonathan nodded, more in hope then in agreement.

"So has command given us any new orders?" asked Susan.

"They have decided to fold the 268th into the 3rd Tactical Wing."

Susan didn't look too surprised by this news. The battle of Guyra had taken a large toll on the Fifth Fleet and two of the hardest hit tactical wings were the 3rd and the 268th, which the _Swiftfire_ was part of. Over half the ships in the wing were lost during the battle, including the tactical wing commander Vice Admiral Brand. The 268th had continued to operate and since then had suffered more losses and the 3rd, which was in a similar position having suffered many casualties at Guyra was also one of the smaller wings so the joining of the two forces would give a full strength wing.

"Does that mean we get to go out and do something?" asked Susan.

Jonathan shook his head. The last combat action the _Swiftfire_ had seen was around a month earlier when they were part of a taskforce led by the _Enterprise_ and attacked a Cardassian convoy. The attack had been successful but the _Swiftfire_ had taken heavy damage when reinforcements turned up to assist the convoy. It had taken two weeks for all the repairs to be completed. Though not only because the damage was extensive but most of the taskforce had needed repairs and the repair teams could only do so much at once. Since then all they did was patrol around the Starbase.

A look of disgust came to Susan's face.

"Great! So we get to circle around the Starbase again! I shouldn't have bothered getting out of bed."

"It is rather dull, isn't it?"

"I've seen patches of space dust that are more exciting," rambled Susan. "Talking about exciting, how are things between you and Maxine?" pried Susan.

Jonathan didn't mind Susan prying into his personal matters, since she had basically got them together.

"Good. I think."

"You think?" Susan did her best imitation of a Vulcan and raised one eyebrow.

"Well, she seems to enjoy my company."

"What about you?"

"Of course I enjoy hers. She is a very engaging woman. In fact we're having dinner tonight."

"Then everything is going great," concluded Susan.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

* * *

Colonel David Tiki checked the rifles power pack before he clipped it back into the Type III Phaser Rifle.

So far this was as exciting as it got for this current tour of duty. The Colonel and his Marine Company of 150 beings had been on the _Swiftfire_ for three months and they had done nothing. No repelling boarders, no capturing enemy ships and definitely no killing Cardassians or Jem'Hadar. His troops were getting restless; if it wasn't for the holodecks on the _Swiftfire_ he was sure they would have all forgotten how to shoot a Phaser! But the Colonel knew it wouldn't continue. If the Federation kept retreating they would be reassigned to garrison one of the core worlds or if the Federation started to win they would be used to invade Cardassian worlds. Either way things were going to get much more exciting.

"All weapons are checked and accounted for," said a voice behind the Colonel.

Colonel Tiki turned to face his second in command, Major Stevens. Major Stevens was one of the toughest Marines he knew, also one of the most attractive. The Major was in a very small minority on the ship, a female Marine. Out of the 150 Marines on the _Swiftfire_ there were a total of twelve females. Unlike the other female Marines the Major didn't tie back her hair; she let her just over shoulder length hair frame her face, which was stunning to say the least. From her beautiful brown eyes to the dimples on her cheek when she smiled, she was stunning. She also had a very attractive tanned skin tone. One day a very lucky man would get to grow old with the Major. But that man would never be David. For one thing he was in a relationship and he was also good friends with the Major and didn't want anything more.

"Good work, Major."

The Major fidgeted in a way that told David she wanted to speak freely.

The Colonel picked up the next rifle and unclipped its power pack to check its charge.

"Let out whatever you're holding in, Major," said David.

"There is a war on isn't there, Colonel?" asked the Major hurriedly.

"I far as I know, yes."

"Well, how come we haven't seen any action? The closest we've got to action is the holodeck!"

"What do you want me to do about it, Major? Go to the Captain and ask him to find the nearest Jem'Hadar column and drop us off."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, sir. But I was thinking more along the lines of getting us transferred to a Marine assault ship."

The Colonel wasn't surprised by the Major's request. He had often thought about serving on a Marine assault ship but he couldn't, he had been given the assignment to guard the _Swiftfire_.

"We've got our orders, Major. As much as we don't like them at the moment, we still have to follow them."

"I know, Colonel. It's just that we're not doing anything to help."

"I know how you feel," sympathised David. "But it might feel like we're not helping but everything we do is helping in a small way. That is all the matters."

* * *

The _Swiftfire_ and its crew spent the rest of the day doing routine jobs. This made time seem to slow down and once one persons shift was over they would gladly retreat to a lounge or to their quarters after what felt like an eternity of boredom.

The Captain was no different. Once he finished he retreated to do something less boring. This was to prepare dinner for his date, Wing Commander Maxine Benton. Jonathan wasn't a chef but he still knew how to cook. For this dinner Jonathan was going to prepare a simple fish dish with potatoes and salad. One of the great things about been captain was that you were allowed to take a large quantity of real food with you. So all the food he was using was real, which made the meal much better in his opinion.

Jonathan didn't have any food preparation facilities in his room so he had to do all the work in his private mess. Jonathan chopped, sliced, diced, mixed, seasoned and cooked the meal. Then he arranged food on the plates and carried them to his room. Jonathan passed some confused crewmembers as they saw him carrying a tray to his room. Jonathan could have always used the transporters to get the food to his room but he felt that they diminished the foods taste. Once he got to his room he placed the meals at the single dinning table in his room and waited for Maxine to arrive, which didn't take long.

Jonathan answered the door chime, Maxine was at the door. Jonathan didn't want to make a big deal of the meeting so both officers were in Starfleet uniform.

"Come in, Maxine," invited Jonathan.

Maxine smiled and entered Jonathan's quarters. Jonathan led her to the small round table on the right side of the room and pulled out her chair, which faced the window on the left side of the room, and pushed it back in when she sat down. Maxine looked around Jonathan's quarters. This was the first time she had ever been in them and had a good look. The last time she was here Jonathan had ripped the place apart in rage when he thought his father had been killed. There were two doors to the room against the back wall. Between the doors was a large wall mounted viewscreen and a curved desk with a chair facing towards the middle window of the three large windows that showed a view off to the port side of the ship. Under the third window had two couches, with a coffee table between them, a chair at one end and a bookcase built into the wall at the other end under it. That area was obviously an area where the room's occupant could relax and read or have informal meetings. On the other side of the room was also the door to the room's sleeping section. All in all it was the biggest personal quarters she had seen on the ship.

Jonathan sat opposite her and reached over and took the heat covers off the food.

"I hope you like grilled Earth blue fin Tuna," said Jonathan.

Maxine looked down at the flawlessly prepared meal. The fish was covered in a light sauce and garnished with herbs. Next to it was a baked potato and a beautifully arranged side salad.

"This looks too good to be replicated," commented Maxine. "Did you prepare it yourself?"

"Yes. One of the benefits of been captain is you have your own mess, which you can stock with whatever you want."

Maxine was amazed at the effort Jonathan went to for this meal.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble. A simple replicated meal would have been fine."

"It was no trouble. I like to cook every once in awhile. There's nothing wrong with replicated food but I still think it doesn't have the same affect that a cooked meal has. Have a taste."

Maxine cut a bit of the Tuna and tasted it. Jonathan was right; the food seemed to have more aroma and taste. Another thing was that Jonathan was indeed a good cook.

"It's delicious! What did you put on it to give it that extra punch?"

"I good chief is like a good magician, they never reveal their tricks," smiled Jonathan. "So how are the new recruits doing?"

Since the battle of Guyra the fighter squadrons under Maxine's command had been under strength. They had lost seven craft and five pilots in that battle, then in the mission to destroy the Cardassian convoy a month ago they had lost three more fighters, but only one pilot. They had only recently got more pilots from Starfleet to fill the gaps.

"They're doing well. Most are a bit shy of combat experience but Commander Waugh, who replaced my second-in-command who was killed at Guyra, is a very experienced pilot. They'll do well…if we ever go back into combat."

Jonathan tried to hide his sigh. It seemed that everyone on the ship was going stir crazy. He couldn't deny he wanted to go out and do something but it wasn't up to him. He had his superiors who told him what to do and at the moment they wanted the _Swiftfire_ to stay put.

"I have no control over that," said Jonathan. "I can't force Command to send us out to find the nearest Jem'Hadar attack wing."

Maxine nodded understandingly.

"If I had my way we would never leave the frontlines of the battle," said Jonathan. "I hate feeling like deadweight in this conflict."

"That is how we all feel."

"But it won't last. The Dominion is going to keep coming; we can either wait here or go out and meet them. Personally I would prefer to go out and show them what the Alpha Quadrant means to us."


	3. Chapter 2

The Turbolift door opened and out stepped Jonathan onto the Bridge. Jonathan did a quick nod and wave and walked straight into his Ready Room, not even stopping to talk or say hello to the other Bridge crew. When Jonathan was out of sight the Bridge crew looked at each other and shrugged, perplexed by Jonathan's unusual behaviour.

Once in his Ready Room Jonathan went straight to his desk and turned on his computer monitor on his desk and took a seat. Jonathan waited impatiently as he brought up the reason for his strange behaviour, priority orders.

Once he loaded the new orders he got a request for security clearance, which he gave. Once it loaded Jonathan's mouth fell open.

"We are going to attack Sector 432," said Jonathan to his audience.

The seven other people in the room started to chat in surprise and excitement.

Jonathan had gathered the senior staff of the _Swiftfire_, Commander Core, Lt. Commander Whitechapel and Celcho, Lieutenant Letac and Karak, Dr. Murphy and Wing Commander Benton, for this briefing of their new orders.

"As you know a new Klingon fleet has arrived and its commander, General Gar, has decided to strike at the Dominion facilities at Sector 432." Jonathan brought up an image of their target, a huge repair dock facility, on the large monitor of the Observation room.

"It looks like the Dominion rebuilt our old docks," commented Lt. Commander Pavlo Celcho.

"Sort of. The docks were never destroyed. The Dominion managed to get around the booby trap we left them and they've just built off the superstructure so it can service more vessels."

"This operation looks like it is at the same time as the operation by the 7th fleet in Tyra system, is their any connection between our missions?" asked Susan.

"Yes. While the 7th halts the Dominion's advance we are to slice apart their supply and repair facilities. When the Dominion fleet retreats from its battle with the Seventh it will find it is a long way from any help. This should force the Dominion back or at least slow down their advance."

"I know this isn't on subject but is it true what they say about the _Defiant's_ task force?" asked Lt. Commander Nikki Whitechapel.

"What do "_they_" say?" asked Jonathan.

"Well, you know how the _Defiant _was leading a task force to strike behind Dominion lines? Well, I heard that the task force had been mauled and has been in a hasty retreat for the last day."

"I don't know, Lt. Commander. Command has not given me any information on the _Defiant _and its task force's status. But I had also heard that rumour. We can only hope that they are wrong."

Nikki nodded, satisfied with Jonathan's response.

"I have a question, Captain," said Lieutenant Terri Letac.

Jonathan nodded at Terri giving her permission to speak.

"I've had a look at these numbers and there are over two hundred vessels thought to be at the repair yards, how are we going to sneak up on them? An open frontal assault would be very risky."

"Good question, Lieutenant," complimented Jonathan. "The answer is we aren't. The Klingons will go ahead of us, cloaked of course, and attack the facility. We will be waited out of their sensor range until the Klingons give us the word and will move in to finish off the battle."

"But the Dominion has shown several times that they can detect cloaked vessels," continued Terri.

"That is true, but Command doubts they would have set up sensors to detect cloaked ships. Sector 432 is now quite far behind enemy lines. I'm sure they don't expect us to strike there. Like the Cardassians didn't expect us to attack their biological weapons convoy."

"They didn't expect us but they still managed to put up a good fight," said Celcho. "They managed to drop an attack wing on us and nearly defeated us."

Jonathan couldn't argue with that. The attack on the convoy hadn't exactly gone to plan. First the convoy was more then five hours late and it had an escort, which Command said it wouldn't, and then they managed to drop a Dominion attack wing on the Starfleet and Klingon taskforce. If it hadn't been for some stunning manoeuvres and tactics by the USS_ Enterprise_ they would have become statistics.

"The Dominion has shown that it is very well versed in warfare," conceded Jonathan. "But we are not strangers to the art of war. The tide of this war _will_ change and this might just be the gravitational pull that does it."

* * *

Colonel Tiki entered the_ Swiftfire's_ primary Engineering section and found it in a state of hyperactivity. The Colonel guessed that they were preparing to leave on a mission. He saw Lt. Commander Celcho working at a console at the Warp core and yelling out instructions to everyone around him. The Colonel marched up to the Chief Engineer.

"Where are we off to, Commander?" asked the Colonel.

Lt. Commander Celcho didn't even look up from his console.

"We're going to attack a Dominion forward base in Sector 432."

The Colonel smiled at the thought of revenge. "Excellent. Good old Admiral Harvey!"

"It's not his plan. It's the plan of the Klingon General who usurped all assets in the area. He's going to be taking elements of his fleet and the Fifth."

"That sounds like a lot of ships."

"Over 400. You know Klingons, they're into overkill."

"Was the Captain going to inform me?" asked the Colonel.

"He's probably looking for you. I was surprised you weren't at the briefing he held."

The Colonel was going to ask more about this briefing he was left out of, when the Captain arrived.

"Captain Masters, the checks are all green so far. We'll be ready in plenty of time."

The Colonel turned to face the Captain.

"Sir, the Commander was just informing me of the mission," said the Colonel in a not totally polite manner.

The Captain didn't seem to notice and just motioned for the Colonel to walk with him.

"I was just looking for you, Colonel. One of your Majors told me that you had come here. You know of the mission and I'm sure you want to know your part."

The Colonel nodded in agreement.

"Unfortunately I don't have much for you. You have the same mission as whenever we go into battle."

The Colonel nodded, not looking too pleased.

"I know you want to do more then baby-sit the crew of a starship but there is nothing I can do short of beaming Jem'Hadar onto this ship for you to "deal" with."

"I know, Captain. It's the same thing I tell my troops. I'm starting to doubt Commands wisdom in putting combat troops on large ships. The Jem'Hadar don't seem to be too interested in capturing our ships."

"I agree. After this battle I'll message command and see if I can get you and your troops assigned to proper ground forces, if you want me to that is?"

The Colonel was taken back by the Captain's candour. "Sir, I don't…That would be very good of you sir."

Jonathan nodded.

"Don't worry, Colonel. I take no offence in you wanting to leave. Everyone wants to feel like they are doing something to help the war effort."

Later that day a large fleet of starships gathered in formation at Starbase 391's outer marker. One hundred and seventy-six Klingon warships and two hundred and forty-five Federation starships floated in formation waiting for the order to move out. When the order came the formation moved out in perfect coordination. As the fleet moved away from the Starbase the Klingon ships cloaked leaving only the Starfleet ships visible. Once all the Klingon ships cloaked the fleet jumped to warp.


	4. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Karak placed the bowl of soup and a glass of water table and sat down.

Given the length of the journey and the mission the bridge crew were going to be on duty through their shift into the next. The Captain ordered that the bridge crew take a short break at various intervals in the bridge lounge. The bridge lounge was a small lounge that was accessed through a door at the right side of the bridge next to the door to the observation lounge. The observation lounge stretched forward towards the bow, while the bridge lounge stretched towards the rear. Unlike the observation lounge, which was a briefing and conference area, the bridge lounge was a place to relax and catch a quick meal. For Karak it was soup and water. He ate silently as he observed the various Federation ships he could see out of the room's two windows. It was an interesting mix of old and new. Some designs dated back eighty years, others just a few years but the fleet was still a formidable force. Whether it would be enough to overcome the Dominion, only time would tell. But all the designs had a distinctive human touch. They were designed to meet certain criteria but they were also designs of beauty. Something most races found to be a waste of time.

It was no secret most species in the Alpha and Beta quadrant considered the humans to be a weak species. They didn't have a large cranial capacity or muscle strength. In fact in most respects the human race was a very average species, yet it was the dominant force in the Alpha Quadrant. Even the Vulcans had underestimated the human ability to overcome obstacles. In fact Karak could still remember his class on human/Vulcan history. The Vulcan Science Institute had said the human race would not last four decades after it discovered Warp travel, yet here it was more then three hundred years later. The humans had defied logic and spread its influence over 8,000 light-years and now it was Vulcans who were second to humans in the galactic perspective. This in itself was illogical. Vulcans were smarter and stronger, but the humans had something the Vulcans did not have, something they lost when they gave up emotions or something they never had, Karak wasn't sure which one was right. Whatever it was the humans were leading the quadrant on the path to the future.

The human race had at several points in its history faced off a superior enemy, from the Klingons to the Romulans to the Borg and now the Dominion. But Karak had done the maths and knew the odds were against the Federation, in fact they got worse every week. But humans were remarkable, the odds made them even more determined and often they would win just on pure determination. Karak had spent enough time with humans to know that they would fight to the end. Even if the Dominion appeared over Earth, they would not give in and would go down to the last man.

It had never come to this, but the human race had been close on more then one occasion. But it never daunted them. They would come back stronger then before and ready to fight. This time it was against the Jem'Hadar, an enemy who was bred to fight and conquer, a species bred for war. Many in the Federation had voiced concerns on how they could face such an enemy and win. But the humans had stood firm and said that they must be opposed, they said they would fight for the Federation and die for it. Karak knew the human race wasn't weak, in fact if you studied their history you would see it was just a history of conflict. In a way the human race had bred from conflict and had been bred for conflict.

It was then that Karak made a correlation. The human race and the Jem'Hadar were a lot more similar then either would like to admit.

* * *

Sector 432 was like a safe harbour. Dominion and Cardassian ships were lined up and arrogantly arrayed around the single giant structure that dominated the area. The monstrosity was a combination of two distinctively different cultures, Federation and Cardassian. The original plain Federation grey was sickly contrasted by the golden brown Cardassian additions. The Repair Docks had several ships docked to it from Cardassian Patrol ships to Dominion Battlecruisers. Neither the Dominion nor the Cardassians expected an attack this far in their space or they would have had ships patrolling the area. This would be a fatal mistake for many Dominion and Cardassian soldiers.

Suddenly like a spectre of destruction the Klingon fleet decloaked at point blank range of the enemy and opened fire. Space lit up like a thousand supernovas as green bursts of energy and red spheres of destruction turned to yellow explosions of light. If sound could traverse space the only thing the Dominion and Cardassian troops would hear over the explosions would be the sadistic laugh of General Gar as he watched the enemy die at his hands.

Several light-years away the Fifth Fleet lay in wait for General Gar's authorisation to join the battle. It didn't take long to come after the Klingon fleet started their attack and the Fifth fleet moved out with purpose and entered warp to join the fray.

* * *

It took over an hour for the Fifth Fleet to traverse the distance to the Sector 432 Repair Docks and when they arrived they found a graveyard awaiting them. Dozens of Cardassian and Dominion ships were scattered in various states of destruction. The area had quickly filled with debris and bodies from the broken and dead ships. Very few Klingon ships were part of this scene of death.

The surviving Klingon ships were fighting two very different enemies. The Jem'Hadar stood their ground and fought, no matter how strategically bad their position was. The Cardassians on the other hand were in chaos. Their forces were split between standing firm and retreating. The fast Klingon cruisers hunted down the retreating ships with murderous glee. The combined Dominion fleet had crumbled but that wasn't true for the main target, the Repair Docks were still operational.

The Starfleet fleet broke off into tactical wings and joined in. The 3rd, the _Swiftfire's _wing, and the 59th were tasked with helping the Klingons with the repair docks. The attacking ships closed in the blasted at the docks. But its shields held firm against the onslaught. Several Dominion ships tried to divert their attention from the docks by performing slashing attacks. But the Starfleet forces would not be distracted.

* * *

Onboard the _Swiftfire_ Lieutenant Letac steeled herself as the ship rocked from enemy fire.

"Those are some heavy duty shields, Captain," she reported. "We've hardly put a dent in them."

"See if you can find a weakness that we could exploit, Lieutenant. Lt. Commander, keep hammering those shields."

The _Swiftfire_ looped back around to make another pass. An Attack ship dove at the _Swiftfire_, firing its Phased Polaron emitter. Lt. Commander Whitechapel diverted several phaser arrays and blasted it into atoms.

"Captain, I can't find a weakness in its shields but I've noticed that one of its lateral sensors is interfering with the shields. I doesn't weaken it par se, it just makes it possible for us to beam through that area."

Captain Masters quickly decided on a new plan of action, it was time for the Marines to do something extremely useful for the war effort.

"Get me Admiral Douglas," he ordered.

The Admiral was the commander of the 59th tactical wing, as well as the officer in command of the Starfleet portion of the joint fleet. She appeared on the viewscreen as a communications channel was opened between the _Swiftfire_ and her ship, the _USS Venture_.

"_Yes, Captain?"_ inquired the Admiral.

"Admiral, we've found a hole in their transporter blocking. Do I have permission to land a demolition crew on the station?"

The Admiral looked off as she asked someone off screen for something. She looked back at Jonathan. _"The Docks have surprisingly strong shields and they are using a complex series of overlapping shields. It will take longer then we have to take down the shields,"_ explained the Admiral. _"Dominion and Cardassian reinforcements are starting to arrive and we aren't likely to get any more ships to assist. I'll have all the other ships in my wing land troops."_

"A small group would be better, Admiral. A group of twenty of my Marines will land and do the job. A small group has a better chance of getting around quickly."

"_Are your Marines up to it, Captain?"_

"I haven't told them yet but I can guarantee they are ready to complete this mission."

The Admiral nodded and quickly made up her mind. _"Do it. Your Marines don't have to destroy the section all they have to do is drop the shields or interrupt them and we'll do the rest."_

"I understand, Admiral. _Swiftfire_ out."  
Before the viewscreen could even change back to show the battle going around them Jonathan was already issuing orders. "Masters to Colonel Tiki."

"_Colonel Tiki here, sir,"_ said the Colonel's over the Communication system.

"Colonel I want you to assemble a team of around 20 Marines to take over to the Repair Docks and take it down."

"_Sir?"_ came the Colonel's surprised voice.

"Do you want to take this mission, Colonel?"

"_Of course, Captain. I'll have a team in Transporter Room One in ten minutes."_

"Make it five minutes, Colonel. I'll have Commander Core meet you Transporter Room One with more information. Masters out."


	5. Chapter 4

Colonel Tiki gathered twenty Marines in the Marines' armoury. Several of the Marines including the Colonel were distributing arms, Phaser Rifles, repeater Rifles, grenades, mines and explosives.

The Colonel pulled out his rifle's power pack and checked the charge and pocketed some extra power packs. One of the Marines pulled out an Isometric Disintegrator.

"No heavy weapons. We are going for mobility. Take as many explosive as you can carry," the Colonel checked the time and found they were nearly out of it and picked up as many explosives as he could. "Grab what you can and let's get moving."

The Marines ran down the corridors to the Transporter Room and found Commander Core waiting. She handed a Datapadd to the Colonel.

"This is a schematic of the Docks as best our sensors could record. Several targets are marked out. Power generations, shields generators, major EPS conduits and what we think might be structural weak points. You don't have to destroy the entire thing, just make it so our ships can do it."

The Colonel nodded as he quickly browsed the PADD. "We don't have enough explosives to blow something that big up. We'll put a big hole in it though. Where is the insertion point?"

The Commander pointed it out on the PADD. "It's a small cargo bay. We didn't detect any Jem'Hadar or Cardassians in or near it. We'll beam you in groups of five. There will be twenty seconds between groups because that is the interval where the sensors make it possible to beam through the shields."

The Colonel nodded and stepped onto the Transporter Pad and said, "Draw weapons. Check that they are on a setting that will kill a Jem'Hadar or Cardassian."

His Marines acknowledged the order and checked their rifles.

"Beam in formation Delta."

The Marines faced away from each other and raised their weapons and two of them dropped to one knee. Colonel Tiki nodded to Commander Core.

Commander Core turned to the Transporter officer, "Energise."

The Marines faded away in a blue haze and another five Marines got on the pad.

The Marines materialise in a sparsely packed cargo room with no hostiles in it. They immediately vacated the spot they beamed into so the next group could be transported in. The Marines kept their weapons trained on the door, in case any Jem'Hadar came in. Colonel Tiki studied the Datapadd the Commander had given him.

Once all the Marines had beamed in the Colonel gathered them together and transferred five of his Marines the plans of the facility.

"We'll go in five groups of four. Each group has a target. You get to it and lay charges. Once that is done we'll meet in the room I've indicated on your schematics. From there we'll move to the main fusion generators. We'll aim to plant as many charges at as many of the generators as possible. Then we return here and get extracted. This should be a cake walk. We'll leave at ten second intervals."

The Marines acknowledged the Colonel's orders and moved out. The Colonel's group was the last to leave. The targets the Colonel had chosen were mostly backup power systems. He hoped that they would be able to do enough damage that the station wouldn't be able to support its shields and the fleet could then destroy this facility.

The group made their way stealthily to their target. The longer they went undetected the more damage they could do. They encountered very few patrols and found the backup generator unguarded. The group quickly planted the charges and move to the meeting point. Colonel Tiki didn't expect this to be such a cake walk but it was going very well so far. So much for superior Dominion security!

The Colonel's group was the second last to arrive and the Colonel learnt the other teams had completed their mission with equal ease.

The team then moved out to the fusion generator, which they found to be guarded. The generators were in an open setting, with wide corridors leading to them. There were around half a dozen lined up, these multi-deck power generators powered the entire facility. The Marines were on the middle level.

"I make out three Cardassian soldiers on this level," said one of the Marines. "I can see at least two Cardassians on the bottom level and I can see the boots of one Cardassian on the top level. But there could be more."

"How do we take them all down before they alert security?" asked another Marine.

"This is a Starfleet section, so there must be Jeffery tubes around here. We can use them to put men on all the levels and if we time it right we could take them out."

"Too risky. We don't know where all the Cardassian soldiers are on all the levels," said Tiki.

"I say we screw the stealth mode and go in guns blazing. We throw a couple of charges in there and we run for it."

"We have to get far away if all five generators go up."

"Do we have to destroy all of them?" asked a Marine.

"Yes," replied Tiki. "We don't know how many backups they put in after they took over but these still seem to be the only main generators. Destroying all five is the safest way to make sure the mission succeeds."

"I say we use the Jeffery tubes and put men on all levels. Then we all throw in flashpaks at the same time. It should blind the Cardassians and give us the chance to get them all before they know what has hit them."

Tiki thought about it for a while, knowing the longer he thought about it the more risk the fleet was in.

* * *

The _Swiftfire_'s dorsal shields collapsed and several phased polaron beams cut into the hull.

On the Bridge sparks flew out of an EPS unit as the power fluctuated.

"Report!" ordered Captain Masters.

"Dorsal shields are down," reported Lt. Commander Nikki Whitechapel. "I'm redirecting energy from all the other shields. It'll weaken all the shields but the dorsal shields will be straight back up. Other then that we've got some minor hull damage to the left spar."

"Lieutenant Letac, see if you can get any support from our Attack Wing."

Lieutenant Terri Letac sent out the message to the Attack Wing. "Negative. All ships are busy."

Jonathan looked at the viewscreen as it showed another Jem'Hadar Attack ship closing on the _Swiftfire_. Dominion reinforcements had started to arrive more steadily now and the allied fleet was having trouble dealing with the fresh new enemy ships and the attack wings attacking the Repair docks had to move into a more defensive stance. But they couldn't leave until the Repair Docks were destroyed or the mission would have been for nothing. They had to keep fighting and hope that the Marines would take down the Repair Dock.


	6. Chapter 5

Two Marines quietly made their way to a set of crates that blocked one of the corridors to the fusion generators. One of the Marines, Lieutenant Yel'tar, an Andorian, disconnected the front of his Phaser rifle and replaced it with a longer thinner head. The Marine then rested the rifle on a crate and lent in close to the rifle as he got his aim. The other Marine knelt next to the Marine and kept a vigilant eye out of any hostiles.

Then Lieutenant Yel'tar, with the patience of experience, waited for the signal

Colonel Tiki waited the full five minutes he gave the sniper teams to get into position. This plan was all about timing and if they were out by just one second they would be in a lot of trouble. As the last second went by he gave the thumbs up and a Marine next to him nodded, took aim and fired.

Lieutenant Yel'tar didn't need to see the signal to know when to fire, he heard the signal as a Plasma containment tube exploded and started to spew out plasma. The Lieutenant took one last look at the target and squeezed the trigger, when a dark flash eclipsed his view.

A Cardassian soldier had run straight into his line of fire and took the Phaser blast to the back. The soldier never saw it coming as he was partially turned away as he watched the lower level of the fusion generator room fill with plasma. He watched as two Cardassian soldiers and two technicians were covered in the plasma, melting them away as their screams of agony filled the area. But even if he had been looking directly at Yel'tar he wouldn't have seen the blast. The head of the Phaser rifle was designed so to make the Phaser blast invisible to the naked eye. It was also designed to make the blast as quiet as possible as it was designed especially for the use of the Marine's elite Sniper contingent. The reason for using the sniper equipment was that the breach in plasma containment had to look accidental and it wouldn't if they could see the Phaser blast flying out and hitting the tube. The blast wasn't especially powerful and it didn't kill the Cardassian but it was strong enough to push him over the railing and down into the plasma filled deck below.

Yel'tar quickly got over the shock of the Cardassian's unlucky action and lined up with his target again as a Disrupter blast hit just above his head. He swore and dropped back behind cover. He looked over and saw the other Marine with his rifle held high, firing Phaser blasts at the attacker. Several Cardassian Disrupter blasts sizzled through the air as they fired into the corridor.

The Lieutenant looked back down the corridor to see that the emergency doors had slammed shut to contain the Plasma leakage. They were trapped. He pulled out his Type 2 Phaser and blindly fired at the Cardassians. He looked over to the other Marine just in time to see no less then four Disrupter blasts hit the Marine, killing him.

Yel'tar knew he was dead. He had no doubt that the Cardassians would not bother with prisoners and if they did he had no intention of spending any time with Cardassian interrogators. It was a matter of how many he took with him. He blindly fired a few more Phaser blasts over his head to keep the Cardassians back as he grabbed and dragged the dead Marine closer to him. He unstrapped the Marine's Phaser and prepared to set it to overload. He then saw that the Marine had several flashpaks. Yel'tar grabbed all of them and armed them before throwing them toward the Cardassians. Flashpaks were a special type of grenade. Instead of been designed to create as much damage as possible, it was made to blind an enemy. They created a very large amount of light that would temporarily blind an enemy and give the user a tactical advantage. It was mostly used by Marines so to distract hostile forces.

Yel'tar immediately stood after he threw the last grenade. Several Cardassians exposed themselves as they heard the noise of the flashpaks hitting the ground and instinctively raised their Disrupters to kill Yel'tar instead of seeking safety. It was their last mistake. The flashpaks exploded and cries of shock emanated from the Cardassians and they fired blindly at him. Yel'tar was unaffected since his helmet actively dealt with the intense light from the flashpaks.

Yel'tar ignored the Disrupter blasts that sliced through the air around him and levelled his dead comrade's Phaser rifle at his original target, a Plasma tube connected to a fusion generator that ran up to the ceiling. His mission had been to just destroy it and fill the level below with as much Plasma as possible. The Plasma was heavier then air so it would fall to the level below but when you breached the tube it exploded out because of the pressure it was stored in, so the Ensign was aiming just below the horizon, so that most of the plasma would fall to the deck below. But this time he aimed higher and fired.

Yel'tar barely registered his Phaser blast hitting the tube when the tube exploded outwards violently. A shock wave slammed into Yel'tar knocking him backwards. What happened next happened very quickly but to Yel'tar time seemed to slow down. As he fell he felt the Phaser rifle fall from his hands. A thunderous roar filled his ears and he felt an intense heat as he saw the plasma jetting over his head. With it came a Cardassian or what was left of one as the Plasma slowly melted him away. Yel'tar hit the ground and slid backwards. Suddenly something landed on him and Yel'tar's vision was filled with the slowly melting face of a Cardassian, screaming in absolute agony as it went into death spasms. But that didn't last long as the plasma melted him away from the inside. Yel'tar's hand grabbed the Cardassian's shoulder to throw him off but the Cardassian's shoulder just fell apart in his hands. The Plasma that originally went over Yel'tar's head was now coming back. It had hit the door and now was spreading itself evenly over the surface. It covered the faceplate of his helmet and he lost sight of the Cardassian. But he soon felt the weight of the Cardassian disappear as the plasma finished the job. Yel'tar then shut his eyes, resigning himself to the same fate.

* * *

Colonel Tiki watched as the plasma flooded into the corridor where he knew two of his Marines were located. The firefight between the Cardassians and the two Marines had come as a surprise but it had been useful in a way. It had drawn all the other Cardassian soldiers to that area so he moved the other Marines to take out these Cardassians. His troops had only just turned to deal with the Cardassians pinning down the two Marines when the flashpaks went off. Then the Plasma tube exploded and the corridor and Cardassians disappeared.

The Colonel watched as the plasma flow died down and the safety systems shut down the flow of Plasma to that tube. He could already hear the fans going as they started to suck in the plasma. But he didn't wait. The Colonel checked his suit was totally sealed and moved in. As he got into the corridor he saw that it still had a fairly thick layer of Plasma. There didn't seem to be any signs of the Cardassians, not that he was surprised. But he saw the suits of the two Marines. The first one was against the crates. He put a hand on the arm of the Marine and felt the arm armour fall off. He saw the armour was empty and noticed two holes in the front of the armour. The suits integrity had been compromised and the Marine had met the same fate as the witch from the 'Wizard of Oz'. But from the placement of the holes in the armour, it thankfully looked like the Marine had died before he was melted away. The Colonel's head dropped as he wished the Marine a speedy trip to whatever he believed was waiting for him in the afterlife.


	7. Chapter 6

Yel'tar waited for the Plasma to melt him into nothing, but it didn't happen. Yel'tar opened his eyes and could see the ceiling. He turned his head slightly and saw the plasma still around him. He slowly raised his head and saw the Colonel over the body of the other Marine.

"Colonel," said Yel'tar.

The Colonel's head shot up as he looked over to Yel'tar. He rushed over to the Ensign and knelt down.

"Colonel," repeated Yel'tar. "I'm sorry I made a bit of a mess with things."

"It's okay, Lieutenant. The mission parameters changed on you and you dealt with it in true Marine fashion. You kicked ass," reassured the Colonel as he looked into the Yel'tar's glazed eyes.

"But the Dominion knows we're in here. I've put the mission at risk."

"Don't worry about it. The Dominion won't beam into here until they know it is clear of Plasma. Meanwhile we're already setting the charges; the mission is going to succeed."

The Colonel called over a Medic who scanned Yel'tar.

"He's got a concussion, other then that nothing major. Someone is going to have to help him walk. He's conscious but he'll have trouble doing anything other then staying that way."

The Colonel nodded and called over a Marine to help Yel'tar stand. The Colonel went to the dead Marine's armour and took it apart. He pocketed the Marine's commbadge and dog-tags. The 24th Century dog-tag had come a long way from its original design. It still appeared the same with the name and officer number on it but it also stored a lot of data on the person on it. From name, Starfleet registry number, DNA profile, to an identification picture, any distinguishing marks, current assignment, the person's rank, platoon and even the next of kin. It had anything that Starfleet thought would be needed to identify the person.

The Colonel heard shouting from the level below. He moved to the railing and looked over.

A Marine looked up and shouted, "Colonel, the Plasma has almost been totally removed. Then we'll be in the open once the safeties are off and all the emergency doors open."

"How many more charges need to be set?" shouted back the Colonel.

"We have three generators to go."

"Get everyone up here now. We're leaving before the Cardassians come in," ordered Tiki.

Colonel Tiki gathered his Marines at the entrance they had used.

"We're going back the same way we got here. It's the fastest way and if we're lucky we'll get to the extraction point before the Cardassians get to us."

The Colonel then ordered his men to set charges on the still sealed emergency door and then set his men up to fill the hallway with Phaser fire. The Marine's setting up the explosives gave the Colonel the detonator.

"On my mark, fire," ordered Tiki.

The Colonel counted to five and then pressed the detonator. The door exploded away from the Marines and smoke filled the hallway.

"FIRE!"

* * *

Captain Masters knelt next to Lt. Commander Susan Core.

"Are you alright, Commander?" asked a concerned Jonathan.

Core coughed and got to her knees.

"I've been better," she said as she wiped the blood from the side of her mouth. "One day we've got to suggest they put restraints on the First Officers chair."

Jonathan help Susan to her feet and back to her seat.

"Are we hit bad?" asked Susan.

"No more then were already were. They didn't breach the shields this time, but I can't guarantee that the shields will hold next time. The dorsal shield grid is going to completely collapse," reported Whitechapel.

"And I thought it was going to be bad!" commented Susan.

The attack was getting worse and worse. The Dominion and Cardassian reinforcements were slowly but surely forcing the allied fleet away from the Repair docks. If this kept happening the Fleet would be halfway to Earth. Jonathan was starting to think that the Marines had not made it.

"Do you think the Marines are still alive?" asked Ensign Cole.

Jonathan could only answer one way, "I don't know, Ensign. I really don't know."

* * *

Colonel Tiki lobbed a Photon grenade down the corridor and went behind cover as it exploded, taking several Cardassians with it. The Marines had almost made it to the extraction point when the Cardassians had cut them off. Now the Marines were on the run. So far they had been lucky. No more Marines had died but several were wounded.

The Colonel pulled out a mine, armed it and threw it down the hall. He heard it beep as its proximity sensors came on line as it flew through the air. Then he retreated further down the corridor and around a corner, where the rest of the Marines were.

The Colonel went up to the second in command. "Do you know where we are?"

The Marine nodded. "It looks like the Cardassians are herding us into a dead end on one of the docking arms."

"Show me."

The Marine showed the Colonel the schematics. The docking arm looked a lot like Earth Station McKinley. It had four pylons that would wrap around a ship and a central control section at the top. They were at the start of the connecting arm to the central control section.

Tiki looked down the connecting arm. It wasn't totally open and had enough nooks and crannies that it wouldn't be a great killing zone. They could hold off the Cardassian for a while, but once they're power packs gave in they were dead. The Colonel heard his mine explode; the Cardassians were getting closer.

"We'll go along with the Cardassians plan. We'll set charges at the start here and then all of the other charges along this connecting arm. We'll get as many Cardassians as we can in here and blow it. But we need time. Take four men and slow down the Cardassians until we've set up this little trap."

The second in command nodded and quickly selected four Marines and headed back the way they came. The Colonel started to issue orders. The Marines set the charges and started to fall back towards the control centre. As they got to the end they heard Phaser and Disruptor fire and saw four Marines run around the corner and run towards them. They heard more explosions in the distances as grenades and mines went off to give the four Marines the chance to get to safety. But they didn't make it. Disruptor fire filled the connecting bridge as the Cardassians fired on the fleeing Marines. Two were felled by the enemy fire. The remaining two, in true 'Never leave a man behind' Marine spirit, turned around and dragged the downed Marines the rest of the way under cover of sporadic Marine counterfire.

Just like the Colonel thought the Cardassians had enough cover that they were able to advance on the Marine's position but the Marines were taking a heavy toll on them. But the further the Cardassians got the easier it became for them to cover themselves and the Cardassians behind them.

It soon became obvious that the Marines would not be able to stop the Cardassians from reaching them. So the Colonel gave the orders to set off the charges. The first charge to go off was the one at the other end of the connecting bridge. This charge breached the hull and cut off the Cardassians from retreating. As soon as the hull was breached, emergency doors at either end of the connecting bridge slammed shut, sealing the connecting arm and dooming the Cardassians. The charges worked their way down the connecting arm until it was totally destroyed.

The Control centre shook as each charge exploded and shrapnel could be heard hitting the emergency door, but the door held. The Marines were careful not to place charges too close to the door since they might expose the control centre to a vacuum.

Colonel Tiki didn't even wait for the charges to finish exploding when he started to issue orders.

"See if you can find the communication console. We need to get the _Swiftfire_ here to extract us," he said to one Marine. "You, see if you can shield this so they can't beam in. Who has the detonators for the charges at the main generators?"

* * *

"Lieutenant Letac, hail the _Venture_," ordered Jonathan.

"Yes sir. Admiral Douglas is responding."

Admiral Douglas appeared on the viewscreen.

"_Yes, Captain?"_

"Admiral, it is foolish to stay. We can't hold the Dominion back forever."

"_I agree, Captain. We're planning the retreat now."_

Commander Core was about to ask what about the Marines but Jonathan continued before she had a chance.

"Good. But before we start the retreat it would be also foolish to leave without knowing if the demolition team is close to success."

The Admiral looked grim. _ "The chances of them still being alive is not good, Captain."_

"I know. But they deserve at least the opportunity for extraction. I'm not asking for a tactical wing and go save them. I'll only take the _Swiftfire_ and check. They are my men and I put them there."

"_You don't have to explain it to me, Captain. You are authorised to do it. The _Venture_ and _Midway_ will create a hole for you to slip through. I'll pull in the 198__th__ to help keep the Dominion off your back."_

"Thank you, Admiral." The viewscreen returned to normal as the transmission was cut. "Helm, get ready to burst through the hole the Admiral is going to give us. Then I want you to lay in a straight course for the Docks. Lieutenant Letac, get ready to run a life sign scan of the Docks as soon as we are in range. This is it; we're going to rescue some Marines."

The USS_ Venture_ and USS_ Midway_ didn't leave the _Swiftfire_ waiting very long. The two Starfleet ships blasted a Cardassian _Galor_ into dust and engaged its accompanying Dominion Battle cruiser, giving the _Swiftfire_ the hole it needed. The _Swiftfire_ left a Dominion Strike Cruiser and Cardassian _Tonga_ Class cruiser on fire as it burst through and headed for the Repair Docks.


	8. Chapter 7

"I've found the communication console, Colonel," reported one of the Marines. "Attempting to contact the _Swiftfire_."

There were several anxious seconds until the Marine reported that he had made contact.

"Audio only, sir."

"That's fine. Captain Masters, can you hear me?"

"_Colonel Tiki! It's good to hear you're still alive. We're coming to pick you up."_

"There's a little problem. We're not at the extraction site. We've had to run into one of the docking bays," explained the Colonel.

"_That is a problem. With the shields up we can only beam you out of the insertion position."_

"The shields might still fall. We're about to set off the charges. There was no point of doing it if you were no one close by or by the time you got here they might have the shields back up."

"_The Lieutenant has your position and is ready to beam you out. Blow those generators at your leisure, Colonel."_

"Consider it done," said the Colonel as he pressed the detonator.

* * *

Back in the generator room several Cardassians were delicately removing the charges. They were joking to themselves about how futile the Marines mission had been since they forgot to set them off, when the charges made a clicking sound and the green light on them turned red. That was the last thing the Cardassians saw as the charges went off simultaneously. The two generators exploded in a terrific explosion. Unfortunately they did not take the other three with them. The other generators had emergency shields that immediately come online. The aim of the shields weren't meant to keep the generators so they could keep supplying power, since the other generators would basically destroy the entire room and several decks. They were there to stop them from adding to the destruction. But the destruction was still impressive.

* * *

The crew on the _Swiftfire_ witnessed the explosion as it burst out of the confines of the hull and into space. All the lights all over the docks went out. But a several seconds later they came back on as backup generators came online. But this was again disrupted as the Colonel set off the charges at the five backups they had visited. The lights flickered but came back on, only much fewer lights then before.

"Damage report?" asked the Captain.

"The docks have massive hull breaches. It is running on reduced power. Some sections with no power at all. Shields are weakened but still up," reported Terri. "The Colonel is hailing us."

"_It didn't work did it?"_

"No, I'm sorry. How long do you think you can hold off in there?" asked Jonathan.

"_Not long if the Cardassians start beaming in. But I doubt they'll be doing that anytime soon with the strain on power they have to be feeling."_

"Captain," interrupted Nikki. "I'm detecting three _Norin_ class Light Cruisers on an intercept course with us."

"Damn! Colonel, we're going to have to go back to into battle soon. Is there any other way you have to drop the Dock's shields?"

"_No. That's all we could do in that time."_

"Captain, can I ask the Colonel something?" asked Letac.

Jonathan nodded. "Go ahead."

"Colonel, you're in the docking bay that is floating free of the rest of the station, right?"

"_Yes. Why?"_

"Did you know that you have a Dominion Strike Cruiser docked to one of your docking arms?"

"_What! Someone check to see if we're docked to anything?"_ the Colonel asked on of his Marines. _"You're right! We could blast our way out!"_

"Not likely. You don't know how to fly it."

"_How hard can it be? You lot do it everyday," _joked the Colonel.

"Yes," agreed the Captain. "But we don't have to do it with everything in Dominionese."

"_Oh, good point."_

"Captain, it shouldn't be too hard. All they have to do is fire the weapons and help put a small hole in the shields so we can beam them out. They wouldn't even need to fly it or worry about enemy fire, since they are inside the Dock's shields," said Core.

"That's right. Colonel, we have a plan. All you have to do…"

Suddenly there was a loud screeching noise over the Bridge speakers that made everyone cringe in shock. Letac quickly shut down the transmission.

"They've started to jam the transmission. That was the feedback for the jamming."

"Can you get through it?"

"I don't know."

"Sir, the _Norins_ are within firing range!" said Nikki.

The Bridge shook as the _Swiftfire_ came under fire.

"Helm, evasive manoeuvres. Lt. Commander, return fire. Let's just hope the Colonel can figure out how to get out for himself."

* * *

"_Swiftfire_? Captain Masters?"

"Colonel, our transmission has been jammed," reported one of the Marines.

"Damn. See if you can figure the way to the Dominion Strike Cruiser."

"No need, sir. We have a two person transporter in the corner. I could beam us to the ship."

"Do we have the power? With the main generators destroyed it's likely the transporters will be offline," asked the Colonel.

"I don't think so," started one Marine. "This bay has its own power source and since we're not connected to the main facility anymore it isn't connected to the Repair Dock's main power grid, so they can't use it to help supply power to the rest of the station."

"Well, that's good news for a change. See if you can run a scan of the Strike cruiser to see how many hostiles are on board," ordered Tiki.

The Marine ran the scan that took several seconds to complete.

"The ship only has a few Vorta and twenty Jem'Hadar. The ship's shields are down, weapons offline and it appears to be relatively intact. I wonder why it wasn't use to protect the station?"

"How many Dominion personnel are on the Bridge of the ship?"

"A Vorta and three Jem'Hadar."

The Colonel pointed to one of the Marines who had been manning one of the Cardassian consoles and motioned for him to join the Colonel on the transport pad.

"Beam us into any empty corridors connecting to the Bridge," ordered the Colonel. "We'll signal when the Bridge is cleared."

The Colonel waited until the Marine handling the transporters signalled he was ready.

"Energise."

The Colonel and his fellow Marine materialised in an empty corridor, just like he had asked. The two Marines brought their rifles to their shoulders and moved forward until they reached the door to the Bridge. They held off just outside its sensor range, so the doors didn't open. The Colonel pointed to himself and then to the right. Then he pointed to the other Marine and to the left. The Marine nodded at the order. The Colonel then held up three fingers and counted down. Once his hand was in a fist he went. The Colonel strode to the door, which automatically opened and stepped onto the Bridge. As the Colonel sidestepped to the right he quickly surveyed the room. The Vorta was standing in the centre of the bridge. The Jem'Hadar were located around the room at various consoles. The Vorta was turning to see who had entered the Bridge when the Colonel fired.

The first Jem'Hadar fell never realising the threat. The other two Jem'Hadar were already in motion once they heard the Phaser blast. Both were reaching for their holstered pistols. The other Marine killed one of these Jem'Hadar as he got his hand on his pistol. The last Jem'Hadar had managed to get his pistol halfway up into a firing position when the Colonel fired. The blast struck the Jem'Hadar on the right shoulder turning his body. But the Jem'Hadar managed to keep his left arm straight has he continued to raise his weapon. A blast from the other Marine struck the Jem'Hadar's left side. The Jem'Hadar fell down, dead.

"Hold fire!" ordered the Colonel as both Marines reoriented their weapons on the lone, unarmed Vorta.

The Vorta looked unimpressed with the sight of the Marines killing his men.

"Surrender now and I'll make sure the Jem'Hadar don't kill you," said the Vorta.

"I don't think you are in a position to make us surrender," replied the Colonel.

The Colonel pressed his commbadge and gave the go ahead for more Marines to be transported to the Bridge.

As two more Marines materialised on the Bridge the Vorta smiled smugly. "If you are here to steal this vessel, I'm afraid you have made a grievous error. This ship's warp core isn't properly installed. You will not escape."

The Colonel started to direct his men on what to do. "Lucky for you we aren't here to take your vessel. We just need to use its weapons."

The Vorta still looked smugly at the Colonel. "This ship won't destroy the Repair Docks, it doesn't have the firepower."

"We're not after destroying the Docks at the moment, we just need to put a hole in the shields so we can escape," said the Colonel as he tapped his commbadge. "That should be enough for now, Lieutenant. You can stop beaming men over."

"Running without completing the mission. You'll never find a Jem'Hadar doing that," said the Vorta. "Unlike you they are not afraid of death, they embrace it. That is why you cannot defeat them."

The Colonel moved to a console and started to look the ships database, if he couldn't destroy the Docks he might as well take whatever secrets this vessel had.

"So I guess these three Jem'Hadar on the floor just died from natural causes," retorted the Colonel.

The Colonel held his Tricorder close to the console as he selected and downloaded various files. Since his Tricorder had nowhere near the storage capacity of the ship's computer he had to be very selective.

The Bridge now had eight Marines in it. All but one, who was covering the Vorta with his rifle, were at various consoles. They were scanning the consoles with their Tricorders, which was translating any Dominionese into a language they could understand.

One of the Marines slowly pressed a set of buttons on his console. A loud beep filled the room as the Computer spoke, "Bridge secured. Bridge controls are locked."

"Colonel," said the Marine. "I've locked out the ship's controls so that only the Bridge can use them. I've also surrounded the Bridge with a forcefield. No one can beam in or out."

"Go work. Now let's get these weapons online."


	9. Chapter 8

The _Swiftfire's_ Phasers pierced the shields on one of the attacking _Norin_ Light Cruisers. The Phaser beam cut deep into the ship, causing several secondary explosions. Another Phaser beam lanced out and struck the Norin's hull. The combined assault resulted in the _Norin_ exploding.

"Another _Norin_ down, Captain," reported Whitechapel. "Just one more to go."

"More Dominion ships are heading our way," reported Letac. "Two Attack ships and a Battle cruiser have broken off from the main group and will be in weapons range in two minutes."

"Masters to Engineering. Lt. Commander, have you found a way around the jamming? We need to contact the Marines now."

"_I'm working on it, Captain. But I'm close, I can feel it,"_ replied Lt. Commander Celcho over the ships intercom.

"We're about to receive some more company. It's going to get hairy."

"_I understand, Captain. Celcho out."_

"Helm, keep us close to the Docks. Don't let the Dominion lure us away."

"As ordered, Captain," replied Karak.

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the rest of the fleet," reported Commander Core. A look of complete shock came to her face. "The Seventh fleet's mission failed. The fleet was all but destroyed. The Dominion fleet that destroyed the Seventh is on its way here. General Gar is ordering the fleet to retreat."

"Hail the _Bal'is_."

The viewscreen changed to show General Gar. He was an impressive looking Klingon but his ship looked to be in bad shape. Smoke could be seen in the background and sparks flew every so often.

"_What is it, _Swiftfire_?_" asked the General gruffly.

"We need more time. I have men on the on the Docks. They need time to escape."

"_We have no time left, Captain. The Dominion strike fleet is on its way here. The longer we stay the more likely we'll have to fight our way back to our lines and the fleet is in no shape to do that. This mission has failed."_

"There is no honour in abandoning men to die," said Jonathan, appealing to the General's honour.

"_And there is no honour is sacrificing the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands to save a few men."_

"I believe the General is saying the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Captain," stated Karak.

"Then I will stay and face the entire Dominion fleet myself. I will not condemn my men to death or capture!" Jonathan said aggressively.

The General smiled broadly and let out a low snarling laugh. _"I see you have the spirit of a Klingon warrior! We will stay, but for only five more minutes. After that, spirited or not we will retreat."_

* * *

Three minutes later the situation on the Strike Cruiser had not changed. The Marines were still struggling to bring the weapons systems online.

"I think I know what the problem is, Colonel," said one Marine. "The system just doesn't have the power. With the warp core not installed properly the power generators are just too taxed to bring the entire weapons system online. I can get one, maybe two Phased Polaron beams online but that is about it. Plus if we push too hard the warp core will most likely destabilise and explode."

"I told you it was a waste of time trying to escape. Now, I will still accept your surr…"

"SHUT UP!" yelled the Colonel at the Vorta.

The Vorta stopped speaking but still had the same annoyingly smug look on his face.

"How long will it take for us to breach the shields with what we have?"

"About a week," replied the Marine. "Plus the _Swiftfire_ is under heavy attack I doubt it will be able to offer much help."

The Colonel nodded. The mission had gone to hell in a hand basket. The Docks were damaged but still operational, the fleet was in trouble and the _Swiftfire_ was in danger of been destroyed just because they couldn't get out of these damn docks. He had to do something fast.

"Sir, the _Swiftfire _is hailing us."

"Patch it through."

"_Colonel, are you receiving this? Colonel?"_

"Yes, we are, Captain. You managed to cut through the jamming."

"_Yes. But I have bad news. You have less then two minutes to get out of there before we're going to have to retreat. The Seventh fleet's mission failed and a large Dominion strike fleet is inbound. I can't risk the entire crew. You need to get out now!"_

The Colonel's heart sank. He was trapped and he didn't know what to do.

The Vorta let out a laugh. "I told you it was futile. Your fleet is lost and you are lost. The Dominion will…"

"I've had enough of you."

The Colonel picked up his Phaser rifle and shot the Vorta. For the first time since they had meet the Vorta's facial expression changed to shock as the Colonel gunned him down.

The other Marines in the room glanced over at Tiki, they were also shocked by the Colonel's actions.

"Don't worry, it's on stun," he explained showing his rifle.

The Colonel suddenly got an idea and tapped his commbadge.

"Lieutenant, beam everyone except me and Lieutenant Stark back to the control centre."

"_Yes, Colonel."_

The Colonel then took the Vorta's headset and put it on.

"_Colonel, this is the _Swiftfire._ Are you okay? We heard weapons fire."_

"I'm fine, Captain. Just get ready to beam us out."

"_You've worked out how to bring down the shields."_

"Yes. We just need a few seconds and the shields will be down. I suggest you start an attack run."

"_Okay. _Swiftfire_ out."_

The Colonel moved to the Helm console and powered up the engines. The only other Marine left was the Marine who had been trying to get the weapons online, Lieutenant Stark.

"Colonel, I suggest you keep impulse speed to below half, otherwise we'll blow ourselves up."

"I'll try not to do that."

The Colonel eased the Strike Cruiser forward. The ship lurched violently.

"What happened?" asked the Colonel as he regained his balance.

"We're still docked to the bay. I don't know how to undock us. We didn't even look into that since we thought this ship wasn't going to move."

"Can you target the connection with any weapons?" asked the Colonel.

"Yes, I can," replied Stark.

"Then destroy them."

The Colonel turned his head and watched as the ships Phased Polaron beams sliced the connection apart. The ship slowly moved forward. The Colonel steered the ship back towards the facility. The Colonel looked at the console and saw the control for the ships "burst" impulse engines.

"Tell me what would happen if I used the burst impulse engines?"

"The warp core would destabilise and destroy the ship."

"So it wouldn't work?"

"Yes, it would work and that's the problem. The ship would travel for around a second and then 'BOOM'."

The Colonel manoeuvred the ship until it was pointed into a gapping hole where the fusion generators had exploded.

The Colonel tapped his commbadge. "Lieutenant, on my signal beam us off this vessel." The Colonel pressed several buttons and looked over to Lieutenant Stark to see if he was prepared. Stark nodded and Tiki pressed the button, initiating the 'burst' impulse engines. "NOW!"

* * *

Ensign Cole rolled the _Swiftfire_ as it passed over the Dominion Battle cruiser. This allowed the _Swiftfire_ to fire the charged Phasers on the ventral hull and give the dorsal shields a reprieve. The move also put the _Swiftfire_ heading away from the Battle cruiser and back towards the Docks.

Cole made a few jinking manoeuvres so that the following Attack ships would have a harder time of hitting the _Swiftfire_. Though with a ship the size of the _Swiftfire_ it was pretty hard to miss.

"Ensign, plot a course that hugs close to the top of the docks and then loops back around."

"Course plotted," said Ensign Cole.

Karak monitored the ship's systems. He didn't often look up at the viewscreen during a battle but for some reason he decided to. He saw the Jem'Hadar Strike Cruiser destroy the connection it had with the docks and move forward, with part of the dock still attached to the hull. The Strike cruiser did a wide loop and then stopped. It held position for a few seconds and then shot forward at an incredible speed. Karak guessed that the ship's 'burst' impulse engines had been used. The 'burst' impulse engines were a system only on the Strike Cruiser and was designed so the ship could 'burst' through enemy lines and hit whatever they were defending or to attack from the rear. But the ship's course wasn't into open space but directly into the heart of the docks. Karak saw several explosions as the Strike Cruiser smashed through the hull, and then there was a much large explosion. The ship's warp core had obviously exploded. The explosion radiated out of the docks, vaporising bulkheads and organisms alike. Karak saw the explosion lick one of freed fusion generators that had floated out into space after their companions exploded and exposed them to the vacuum, they were been held in place by tractor beams. The generator still had shields, as the explosion sent them flickering with energy, but it would not be denied. The shields fell and the explosion touched the generator. In an equally impressive explosion the generation blew up, adding to the chaos. The remaining two generators, which were out of range of the warp core breach, were consumed by this new fireball and soon it seemed as if a star had gone nova and the Docks were a wash with fire.

"Captain, their shields are down!" cried Letac.

Captain Masters immediately seized on the opportunity. "Helm, drop the starboard side to 45 degrees below the horizon. Lt. Commander, drop shields and fire the starboard side torpedo tubes at the docks. Lieutenant Letac, signal Dr. Murphy to prepare for wounded and beam the Marines into Sickbay, some are sure to be injured."

All the officers acknowledged the Captain's orders as one and went to work.

Karak dropped the starboard side 45º. The viewscreen showed the ship tilting, even though no one felt it.

To the naked eye it wasn't obvious that the _Swiftfire_ had dropped its shields until the fire from the pursuing Jem'Hadar went past where the energy barrier had been and hit the hull. The hull at the rear of the _Swiftfire_ buckled under the assault and exploded. Nikki fired several torpedoes from the rear facing torpedo tubes, destroying one ship. But the real spectacle was the Docks. The two starboard torpedo launchers disgorged torpedo after torpedo into the Docks. To add to the damage all of the _Swiftfire's _starboard Phaser arrays opened up on the Docks, slicing into its exposed hull.

"All the Marines have been beamed back onboard, Captain," reported Letac.

"Raise shields. Lieutenant, signal the fleet that we have them. Helm, set a course to rejoin the fleet."

The _Swiftfire_ turned around and headed back the way it came. The Dominion ships fired at the _Swiftfire_ as it past them.

"Lt. Commander Whitechapel, load two Tricobolt torpedoes into the rear facing torpedo tubes. Set them to maximum yield."

The Lt. Commander quickly completed the order.

"Two Tricobolt torpedoes prepped and ready in the rear tubes," confirmed Whitechapel.

"Fire."

Two bluish lights appeared out of the rear torpedo tubes of the _Swiftfire_. They looked much like Quantum torpedoes when launched but they had a much more devastating effect. The two Tricobolt torpedoes impacted with the Docks and exploded. The torpedoes were so powerful that most ships carried very few and were considered as a demolition device or long range attacks because if you were two close you would meet the same fate as your target. It was also not unknown for the devices to, however briefly, put a tear in subspace, a true testament to their power. The already devastated Docks succumbed to the awesome forces acting on it and collapsed. The entire facility exploded, sending debris flying in all directions. The Dominion ships that were harassing the _Swiftfire _were pelted with debris. The smaller ships were destroyed but the larger Battlecruiser survived, barely.

The _Swiftfire's_ shields dealt with any debris that managed to reach it.

"The Docks have been destroyed, Captain," reported Letac. "The Dominion ships are disengaging. I guess they don't want to play anymore since they have nothing to defend. We're getting congratulatory messages from Admiral Douglas and General Gar wishes to speak to you, Captain."

"Put the General onscreen," said Jonathan has he stood.

General Gar appeared onscreen. The General had a large grin on his face.

"_Excellent work, Captain. There will be songs sung about what you have done today."_

Jonathan bowed slightly at the General. "The honour must mostly go to the Marines stationed on my ship. It was them who did a lot of the damage and took down the Docks' shields."

"_Very well. But there will be celebrations when we return to Starbase 391 and I will save you and your crew a barrel of bloodwine!"_

"We look forward to toasting our victory with you and your Klingon warriors."

The General let out a low laugh and nodded at Jonathan, then terminated the transmission.

There was a beep as the ship's intercom came online. _"Murphy to Masters. I have someone who wants to talk to you."_

"Go ahead," replied Jonathan.

"_It's Colonel Tiki here, sir. I want to thank you for coming back and hanging around while we did our work."_

Jonathan smiled. "It's okay, Colonel. All part of the service."

"_Oh, and Captain could you forget what we talked about before?"_

Jonathan furrowed his brow as he tried to recall what the Colonel was on about. "And what was that, Colonel?"

"_The _Swiftfire_ is our home, sir. We'll be with you till the end, sir."_

Jonathan felt very proud. The Colonel had decided to stay after all.

"And we will be with you till the end too, Colonel. Masters out."

Jonathan returned to his seat. "Helm, set a course for Starbase 391 and prepare to go to warp 6."

The _Swiftfire_ soon rejoined the fleet. Every ship looked worse for wear. The battle had been intense and had been balanced on a knife's edge but they had won and each member of the fleet took solace in that. But the news of the loss of the Seventh fleet was also a bitter pill to take. After three months of slaughter they had finally won a fairly major engagement with the Dominion, but the loss of the Seventh fleet showed that this war was far from over.


	10. Epilogue

_Captain's Log, supplemental. I didn't think the war could get much worse, but it did. The Fifth fleet was pulled back from the front to the Vulcan border two weeks after our attack on Sector 432 for a reprieve from the constant fighting. But that was not to last long. The Vulcan border is basically the border around Vulcan sovereign territory. The Vulcans had set up several colonies and outposts before the UFP was formed; an interesting note about this is that just about all of them are moving away from the Beta Quadrant. Most think that the Vulcans had a pretty good idea where the Vulcans that rejected Sarak's teachings, who would later be known as Romulans, went and didn't really want to meet up with them in a big hurry so they expanded in the other direction. Anyway the Fifth was posted at the border of this space, which we thought was far from the fighting. But in the last five months the Dominion has pushed quite far into Federation space, so of course the Vulcan border soon became a war zone. _

_For a month the Fifth has been fighting here and despite being reinforced by the Eighth and Eleventh fleets and the fighting along this area has been brutal. Everyone is now really starting to doubt our ability to hold back the Dominion. There is even a betting pool that says that Dominion will be on Vulcan in three weeks and on Earth two weeks after that._

_I can't say I feel much more optimistic about our situation. Something needs to be done. After the battle at Sector 432, even with the loss of the Seventh, people were still upbeat and that is what we need. We need to push back the Dominion. We need to go and retake what was ours. We can't keep fighting this war defensively. Not if we want to be still standing at the end._

_The _Swiftfire_ is currently heading out on patrol. But it won't take long for the patrol to turn into a running skirmish. It always does._

* * *

"Captain, we're been hailed by Admiral Harvey," said Letac.

"He's probably diverting us to join another skirmish. Put the Admiral onscreen, Lieutenant," said Jonathan.

Admiral Harvey appeared on the viewscreen.

"_Captain Masters, there has been a change of plan. You are to go to the coordinates I'm transmitting and join with the USS _Venture_."_

"What's the situation? Has the Dominion slipped through our lines and the _Venture_ needs some extra heavy support?" asked Jonathan.

"_No, Captain. You are to join the Task force the USS _Venture_ is commanding."_ The Admiral held up his hands as Jonathan opened his mouth to ask what the Taskforce was for. _"Not over such a long range transmission. Admiral Douglas will brief you on your arrival. Harvey out."_  
Jonathan looked over to Commander Core in puzzlement. Core just shrugged her shoulders.

"Helm, take us to the coordinates the Admiral sent. Maximum warp."

It took the _Swiftfire_ twenty minutes to travel the distance. When the ship dropped out of warp they were greeted with a huge collection of ships. Around 300 Starfleet ships were in formation moving at full impulse.

"Admiral Douglas is hailing us."

The Admiral appeared on the viewscreen. She smiled at Jonathan as the two had been in several battles together.

"_Captain, I'm sure you want to know what is happening and I can't tell you much other then this. Starfleet Command has ordered several elements of the Fifth fleet to disengage from the Vulcan border and go to Starbase 375. Those are our orders. I'm transmitting your formation position, if you'll move into position. We're still waiting for more ships to arrive so we won't be going to warp just yet. Douglas out."_

The Bridge crew all looked around at each other. They were all excited but slightly cautious. They knew that Starbase 375 was close to Cardassian space and that it would have to be something big for a large part of the Fifth fleet to be moving there.

"Helm, put us in formation."

Commander Core wasn't one to keep to herself. "I wonder what is going on at Starbase 375. It has to be pretty important to weaken the defences of the Vulcan border."

Jonathan looked around at all the Bridge crew and saw they were looking at him, expecting an answer, an answer he didn't have. Jonathan had to say something and he went with his gut feeling.

"Whatever it is I have a feeling this could be a turning point in the war. A turning point for good or worse, I don't know. But a turning point none the less."


End file.
